Even the caverns weren’t immune from the conversation of humans, especially when the talk was about them. It was part of surviving to know what was going on with the humans. When the tides began to turn that was when it was time to disappear into the night. Yet Galina hadn’t. She knew the signs and yet she had stayed. The reasons were twofold. First, Galina was hesitant to leave without Mari having returned. She knew how big the world was and knew that if she left this area then Mari’s hopes of finding her would diminish. As Mari was the only family that Galina had left in the world she could not bring herself to leave. Instead she had only increased her searching for the younger vampire. Second, for the first time in well over a century Galina felt hope. She could sense what the small group of vampires could become if given the chance to thrive. Yet she was aware of how fragile it could all fall apart. With the tides she sensed that might be sooner than she expected. Despite that she remained. For Mari, she promised herself.

Each day she slipped from the caverns into the woods to look out for Mari, to listen to the rumors spreading, and to get some answers. They didn’t know who had killed the wizards, but it wasn’t good for the group of vampires who remained in the caverns.

Returning to the caverns after one such outing Galina was surprised to hear her name. Looking through the woods gave her a view of a gentleman standing, back to her, with a wand. Foolish man, she could easily spring upon him without his realizing it. But there was the matter of his words and his wand.

Galina stepped forward through the tree line, her eyes never leaving the wizard. Her blond hair spilled over her shoulders and her fine dark cloak. “Is there a problem sir?” Galina’s features arranged themselves into a concerned look, eyebrows wrinkling, head tilted to the side slightly as if trying to figure out a problem.